École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

EPFL is one of the leading technical universities in Europe with about 10,000 students. It offers a very exciting and stimulating atmosphere for teaching, learning, and research, promoting collaboration between students, professors, and entrepreneurs. The EPFL team involved in the project is a world-known group working in piezoelectric thin films, their integration into MEMS devices, and their applications. The group provided fundamental work on piezoelectric thin film functionality, synthesis of AlN and PZT thin films, and their characterization. During the last 10 years, there was also parallel activity in micro oxide fuel cells, studying YSZ and CGO thin films, including the electrostrictive type response of the latter.

Role in the project

EPFL will essentially contribute to the study of the ES effect (which requires test structures, and tools like for characterization of the converse piezoelectric effect) and on MEMS design, fabrication and device testing.

Key staff involved in the project

Paul Muralt

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 801267